What would you do if you were me?
Hi reader,
I am looking for advice as to how I can spin my career story to land a SA 2022 role in IBD - London. Brief about me
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Graduated from the top university in India with a Bachelors in Economics, stood top 10% in my class of 200 students.
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Worked with the Ministry of Finance as an Intern for 6-months, handled high level government projects including analysis of 300 public companies, working on mergers, acquisitions and disinvestment of govt. firms. Prepared pitch decks, sector analysis reports etc. Got a letter of recommendation from the head of finance department.
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Currently working at The Economist Group as an Analyst whereby I handle modelling and forecasting. I analyse the impact of economic and financial events on markets and economies. Handle large volumes of country and industry data. It is a client facing role whereby I also work on projects with firms like Barclay's, BCG, Deloitte etc. Will complete 1 year in July.
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Incoming Masters in Financial Analysis student at London Business School, will graduate in 2022 but I also have the option to graduate in 2023.
My current role is very quant heavy and technical (involves use of Excel/Macros/VBA, Python and Data Analytics) but it is not directly related to finance, I am concerned this will act as a disadvantage when applying for SA roles in London for IBD. How can I spin my story? What do you think my chances are?
Nice spam.
What did I do wrong?
Improve social skills, no. 1 reasons why there are less Indians even though they're way smarter than the rest
Point noted. I don’t want to network for the sake of getting a job, I’m trying to genuinely build relationships.
How do you recommend Indians can improve their social skills? In what ways can we improve let me know.
your CV is good....agree the issue will be your social skills...or lack thereof as perceived by the English speaking Caucasian white males who will be interviewing you (just a statistical fact). You should find a way to practice interviewing with people who are similar to those who will actually interview you...watch the recordings and work to eliminate negative mannerisms
do you have an indian accent, or a British accent? This is pretty big...recommend speech classes if you have an "indian" accent (its rasict i know, but thats just life).
Indian accent here all the way. But will practice interviewing with a better accent for beating the racism.
I don't see any problem. Know Indians working in IBD London who have the accent and did not change it. Also, you must be coming from a tier 1 city in India so I don't think you will face an accent issue. Better to reach out to Indians who are working in IBD London for more insights (though many are girls). Also, I would suggest you try to get an internship at tier 2 Bank in India before you start your Masters as that would give you an edge, and also Indians who are working in London had good prior brand name internship though nothing assures you a place in IBD as I know people who could not break into London with 2 big 4 internships and tier 2 bank internship though they were based out of UK. You will be in the UK so you won't face visa issues for internships.
bruv your accent, doesnt matter as long as you can communicate thorougly dont listen to the guy above.
racism exists...no way to sugarcoat it...maybe he'll be lucky...but statistically...racism exists...better to prepare and prevent for it, rather than be "surprised" when it happens.
We have multiple MDs and Directors in my BB group that grew up and went to universities in India. They still have Indian accents and I don't think anyone in the group has any difficulty communicating with them. I would recommend worrying less about the accent and more about learning how to interact with the type of people you're going to be working with. Figure out which Netflix shows or movies are popular and start watching those. Keep up to date on the latest sporting events and politics. I think your only disadvantage will be not being able to relate to your coworkers because you won't have many things in common with them, but that can easily by changed by doing your research.
Nah I think it's relevant.
My theory is that it's because so many BO roles got outsourced to Indian firms, so you have these half committed people who are incapable of independent thought and can barely speak English handling IT issues, accounts payable, internal bureaucracy etc.
Everyone who's worked a corporate role has had to deal with these people on a semi regular basis and eventually you begin to associate your frustration with the accent. Some of my best friends are Indian but I still get stupidly triggered when I hear random people speak like that.
Hope my “good” CV carries me through. Any tips on how I can improve? Thanks!
I had Indian business partners in London (other firms), they all had a heavy Indian accent and that wasn't a big deal. This is the UK after all, it is not like nobody knows Indians and their accents. It is as normal as rain.
The bigger issue would be lack of internships or BB exposure so far? how to land those in these economic times...
Well my initial internship of 6-months was with the Govt. think tank and I worked on real deals, prepared pitch decks etc. There has been media coverage for the deals I have worked on too, don’t know if that helps.
But then I agree I don’t have BB experience, do you think I can use the brand name of The Economist Group for landing a SA at a BB?
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